“Community is not a place, but a way of life.”  –Herbert Lovett

On June 30, the Membership and Marketing Circle hosted a Last Saturday event to provide an overview of the work of the circle.   We discussed issues in membership, explored our work addressing racism and racial equity, and offered a forum for small-group processing.  We also worked on building collaborative skill and strengthening community bonds.

We began with the question: “What are we doing as a community, and why aren’t we done yet?”  Part of the answer is that we are immersed in a project of Culture Change, and the work of creating Collaborative Culture is never complete.  As we plan and develop an Ecovillage, we seek to deepen our own capacities for cooperation, sustainable living, and social justice.  To support those goals, we have a membership process with multiple levels that provides members and the community opportunities to check how we are doing and how good of a fit we might be together in the journey ahead.

Over the past year, we as a community have learned more about who we are and what we are looking for: we are committed to creating an Ecovillage, and we are looking for people who are willing to work collaboratively, live sustainably, and learn together along the way.  Membership and Marketing has focused on recruiting and supporting members, clarifying policies and levels of membership, and also building skills for collaborative work in the community.  We’ve incorporated “regenerative sustainability” into our mission, which signals a deeper commitment to living sustainability in ways that heal, restore, and enrich the land and the larger ecosystems and social systems in which we live.

During the gathering, we asked those present about their experience in the membership process, whether anything has been holding them back, and what they needed to move forward in membership at Hart’s Mill.  Some folks are moving slowly in membership, while others are just starting out, and some have been advancing at a steady pace.  Creating an Ecovillage requires a lot of work, and some of us occasionally feel daunted at the immensity of the task.  Others are very interested in the community, but have a partner who is not as keen.  Some members spoke of the challenges of balancing work, family, and participation in the community development process.  Others wanted to know more specific details about what the community would look like and how much it would cost to live there before they felt comfortable committing to the membership process.

We also asked for input and suggestions that might aid Hart’s Mill in attracting members more effectively.  Attendees brainstormed a lot of good ideas: community participation in events like the Eno River Festival, finding more places to post flyers, expanding our online and social media presence, looking west of the Triangle towards Burlington and Greensboro for recruiting members, soliciting news and journal articles about the community, nurturing relationships with those who have already shown interest, and crafting our marketing message to clarify who we want to attract and who would be a good fit for our community.  We had a few visitors from other local communities who spoke about how much it has helped their communities to have expert consultants guide them and shape their vision and approach to development.

In the second half of the afternoon, we talked about the community’s commitment to Diversity and Racial Equity.  Why does this matter at Hart’s Mill, and what are we doing?  Amy spoke from the heart about the urgency of addressing racism in our society, our community, and ourselves, and she talked about how this work is needed to address injustices and also heal ourselves and our relationships in the wider world.  While we are still a mostly white community, we are working on understanding racism and striving for racial equity.  Several members have taken the weekend trainings on Anti-Racism work through the Racial Equity Institute, and Hart’s Mill has also co-hosted an educational session with Standing Up for Racial Justice.  Some Hart’s Mill members participated in the Hate Free Schools Coalition, which worked over a year to persuade the Orange County School Board to ban displays of the Confederate Flag in public schools.  In addition to diversifying our membership, our goals include supporting racial equity work in the broader community around us.

Next, we paired up and discussed what the issues of race, racism, and racial equity bring up for us, and also how people are feeling about Hart’s Mill’s approach to racism and racial equity so far.  Members shared their thoughts about both the importance and the challenges of working on racial equity and deepening our awareness of racism in our community, our society, and our everyday lives.

We also asked participants how we as a community can keep fostering racial diversity and racial equity.  Members offered ideas for expanding diversity and equity within Hart’s Mill and also in the broader community.  As a mostly white group, it may be difficult for people of color to join, and yet Hart’s Mill can still work for racial equity and social justice by increasing our own understanding of racism and by cultivating relationships with people and organizations who are working on these issues.  We strongly recommend racial equity trainings for all who are interested in Hart’s Mill.

To prepare for the discussion on racism and racial equity, we recommended a list of short readings.  Please take the time to check these articles out (links provided to pdf files on our website):

• I’m not a Racist but Racism is in Me, by Joe Cole, Communities Magazine #178
• Barriers to Diversity in Community, by Crystal Farmer, Communities Magazine #178  
• Starbucks and the Issue of White Space, by J Cobb, the New Yorker
• Geri’s and Anthony’s blog posts concerning racial equity and Hart’s Mill:  Viewing Racial Equity with New Eyes; What is Hart’s Mill Trying to Become?

We closed the afternoon by distributing commitment cards to invite people to name how they would like to contribute going forward.  Folks volunteered for website maintenance, social media support, distributing materials and flyers, and participating in Membership and Marketing Circle meetings (first Thursday of every month).  After the gathering, a couple of people decided to move up to the next level of membership!

One of our jobs in Membership and Marketing Circle is to nurture community bonds, and we are glad this Last Saturday gathering brought people together to get to know one another and explore the joys and challenges of membership at Hart’s Mill Ecovillage

Please contact us and let us know how you would like to contribute to the growth and development of our membership at Hart’s Mill.   The Membership & Marketing Circle would love to have you come visit!  We meet the first Thursday of every month–check out the monthly calendar for information and to RSVP.  

The previous weekend, Hart’s Mill had a presence at the Emerson Waldorf School’s Children’s Faire and Artisan Marketplace. Christina, Marilyn, Rita, Virginia, Charles, Anthony, and Paul greeted visitors and engaged in conversation about our community.  Christhome.  All agreed that it was a beautiful event.  Thanks to Bailey and Gaius for opening this door for Hart’s Mill.

We began a new tradition of Thanksgiving at Hart’s Nest.  Beautiful weather, amazing food, delightful guests, a lengthy walk on the trails after the main meal followed by fantastic strumming and singing all evening by Tain were enjoyed by all.  It was a wonderful day!  

On Thanksgiving Saturday, Randy, María, and Hope began to walk, assess, and partially clear the North-to-Northeast boundary line as the next phase of preparing for the Land Dome Ceremony. It’s going to be a big and joyful job to clear the entire perimeter and volunteers are very welcome to step up and help!  If you are interested in this service, please contact María at Mariastawsky@gmail.com

Later in the day, on the last Saturday of the month, Our NEW Governance and Training Circle offered the second conversation and learning opportunity related to sociocracy and cooperative skills. With María’s guidance, we had a rich and enlightening discussion of power dynamics in communities in November, followed by a delicious meal with chili made from a home-grown pumpkin and cooked up by Bailey.  In December, we’ll be preparing to greet the New Year with practices for reflective listening.  Let’s begin the year in the spirit of cooperation.

On Thanksgiving Sunday, Randy, Tain, Greg, and Matt worked on building the rocket stove for Cob Haven. Read all about this involved endeavor in the previous post.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this time all about community, gratitude, generosity, and creativity! 

But lately, we find ourselves still in the thick of an architectural process that has not yet brought us to the finish line despite over a year of consistent engagement in an intentional process between skilled and well meaning people.  

Hmmm, could we be missing something?  How about if we add a different ingredient to the mix and see what happens?  It was in this spirit that members María Silvia and Joe Cole offered their home and expertise to facilitate a Sharing Circle on July 2^nd. 

Nine Hart’s Mill members gathered in the “tower” at María and Joe’s home.  After a thorough and helpful introduction to the process and setting an intention to deeply listen and receive each other, we began to speak, one at a time….

According to community consultant, Laird Schaub, the purpose of a Sharing Circle (or Heart Circle) is to give participants an opportunity to speak, without interruption and generally without time limits, on something that is meaningful to them or a topic the group has chosen. These sessions can be powerful community building experiences and may be used for these reasons:

1. When the group wants to go deeper together and strengthen bonds with one another.
2. To share feelings, issues, or concerns that don’t easily come up in regular meetings.
3. When the group wants to access more information about a topic that can’t be achieved by normal discussion in meetings.
4. When the group is dealing with an emotional situation—a member leaving, a death of someone significant to the group, an emotionally hard situation, etc.
5. It can be a time for just sharing with one another, whatever is in your heart about your life at the moment.
6. Generally it is not used for making decisions or to resolve a specific conflict (although it is a great forum for people to reflect on what is going on and their feelings about a contentious situation or conflict the group or individuals are experiencing).

…and each person had the space and time to express what was in their hearts about where we find ourselves now.  Comments were infused with thoughtful reflections–hopes and dreams, grief and frustration, joy and gratitude, unresolved questions, excitement about possibilities, commitment to the vision of Hart’s Mill and what it could become and hold for each of us—all poured into the circle space and held with respect and love by the listeners until our cups were both emptied and filled according to each person’s need.

 As for me, I was astonished to feel mainly delight and deep caring for the Hart’s Mill vision emerge when it was my turn.  Far from venting my fears and concerns, I dropped into a stream where commitment, passion, love, and possibility infused the waters that we swim in together—may they be rough or smooth—and tears of joy and gratitude for all we are and all we mean to create and become together flowed freely.

The entire process lasted less than two hours.  After the final words were spoken, we continued to sit in silence, loath to leave the richness and connection created in this simple, almost primal way.  It was as though we had just watched a really good movie together and didn’t want to exit the theater even after the credits finished rolling and the lights came up.  Gradually, we stretched and stood and made our way out into the world, carrying this experience of connection with us…

The effect of the Sharing Circle on the architectural issue remains to be seen, but that we who participated were touched, moved, and heartened in various ways was evident.  Joe and María have generously offered to facilitate more Sharing Circles at Hart’s Mill with topics ranging from the open-ended to specific.  Your whole-hearted engagement is welcome! 

NEXT SHARING CIRCLE: Thursday, July 20, 7pm, Chapel Hill.  Contact María Silvia for information.  Please RSVP if you plan to come: mariastawsky@gmail.com

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With colder weather settling in and gardening on the land over for the season, it’s time to pause and look back on this year for which we give many thanks.  What a truly spectacular year it has been for Hart’s Mill!  Much movement forward and several hurdles behind us.  It seems like the perfect time to be in touch with our more distant friends and members, to review the status of the Hart’s Mill Ecovillage project as 2013 quiets down, and to share some plans for 2014.  So… warm greetings to each of you!

HART’S MILL MILESTONES

After years of dreaming and planning, Hart’s Mill has reached the critical stage of actually purchasing a beautiful tract of land and hiring planning and engineering consultants to guide us through the site development process.  Exciting times!

How did we get here?  Here are the headlines.

Members:  An active core group of visionaries came together in early 2013.  Through many potlucks, work days, celebrations, circle meetings, socializing, plain hard work, we’re building commitment to each other and this work.   We’ve also been graced by many visitors who have worked alongside us.
Land purchase: We signed an option contract on November 27, 2013, to purchase 111.5 acres of fields, forest, and wetland from land-owner and Ecovillage member, Alana Ennis.

Roadway access: We’re soon to complete a purchase contract with an adjacent landowner to give us public roadway access to the land.  Now that this parcel has been secured, we can move forward with building the community.
Engaging with the land:   We held 10 workdays in 2013. We established our first community garden and have kept it happy and productive.  More critical for the long term, these festive events served to build what Diana Leafe Christian aptly calls “community glue”.  We produced a lot, and are hungry for more.

 
Cedar Pavilion: Thanks to Anthony  for his clever design and wood-working skills we erected our first building on the land.  This lovely open-air structure near our fire circle now serves as the perfect meal-sharing and occasional meeting and planning space.  The Pavilion roof functions to collect rainwater for our rain barrels and thirsty garden, and it thankfully provides shelter from the occasional summer shower.  Cedar Pavilion also provides an effective space for folks who wish to spend a star-lit night on the land.  We all tested our carpentry skills during the construction of this splendid addition to the community.

Governance:  Hart’s Mill has adopted Sociocracy to maximize effectiveness, equivalence, and transparency.  It is serving us well to guide the many decisions reached this past year.

Legal structure: Hart’s Mill, LLC, has been established to steer the development process.  We finalized our Operating Agreement on November 5th and are moving forward with financing the next phase.

Site concept planning: before the end of the year, we will participate in developing a site concept plan.  The goal is to have in place an initial plan in early 2014 to bring to Orange County to initiate the formal discussions regarding land use and permitting processes.
The next year promises to be dynamic and formative for Hart’s Mill Ecovillage.  Though our membership has doubled over the past year, at this stage in our young life, we need to grow.  We continue to benefit from additional numbers and – it must be said emphatically – also from deeper appreciation for the dreams, enthusiasm and skills each one of us brings to the effort.  Since we are no longer just an aspirational community, several details for joining, affiliating and working with the Hart’s Mill Ecovillage Community are being clarified.   Over the next few weeks we will hold events to encourage some of our Exploratory Members to move into the Associate Member category.  Nurturing our members is viewed as critically important, and we have not given sufficient attention to this task, as other time-sensitive chores have intervened.  Our first event for this new outreach is a large gathering planned for December 7th.

Acknowledgements: This past year’s activities and accomplishments have been pushed forward by the energy and talents of a dedicated core group: Katy, Amy, Lorna, Hope, Johanna, James, Paul, and Anthony.  We stand on the shoulders of earlier founders such as Christian and Linda.  And of course, none of this would be possible without our visionary land owner, Alana.

Dear Members & Friends of the Hart’s Mill Community,

What a beautiful day on the Hart’s Mill land yesterday!! Thanks to each of you who took part!

24 enthusiastic visitor/worker participants of all ages were there. I think this was our largest turnout ever!

Events & Accomplishments:
Tours of the land (lots of Q&A)
Off-loaded our new/used hoop house and irrigation drip hoses

Mowing & weed-whacking
Celebration of the Fall Equinox (thanks, Hope!)
Dedication of the Cedar Pavilion
Building a cedar table to match the pavilion (thanks, Anthony!)
Fun & games with the younger folk
Harvesting some final carrots & peppers
Shared dinner at the pavilion
Watching Venus follow the setting sun on the western horizon
Building of community & memories

Again, thanks to everyone who took part. Stay tuned for our next planned workday.

Paul

We worked hard, undeterred & refreshed by the occasional and welcomed light mist & rain. As the day progressed the sun insisted on celebrating its day, and the night brought us a perfect full moon. What could be better?!

Participants: Anthony, Amy, Ruthie, Katy, Buck, James, Ashley, Marianne, Catherine, Wren, Gregory, Hope & Paul. A big CHEER for each of you!

Accomplishments:
1) Cedar Pavilion – almost finished. Wow! What a perfect tangible beginning for Hart’s Mill.
2) Tall grass whacking & mowing – just enough to walk some places with ease.
3) Garden (weeding & harvesting)
4) Moving of rain barrels
5) Shared dinner

6) Summer Solstice celebration (fire at the fire circle, personal reflections & sharing, Summer Solstice quiz)
7) Sleep over (well… for Anthony, as he spent the night in a hammock reflecting on his beautiful creation).

Another workday in the works for sure. Date to be determined. Please stay tuned!

Paul